Max is Back!
by PriestessAmy
Summary: Following the events of Rachel is Here, Chloe is contacted by Max and told that she's going to Blackwell. The two are close all over again, but it's rather complicated considering their own feelings and Chloe's girlfriend. Everyone is crushing on everyone and it's a little chaotic.
1. Nerd Alert!

"_Chloe, I know I've done an absolutely shit job of being your friend over the years. You could fill a book with all the ways I fucked up. Even worse, I ran away and left you holding the pieces. If you hate me too much to ever want to see me again, I'd get that. But I wanted you to be the first person I know: I got into Blackwell. I'll be back in Arcadia Bay this September. And it would be great to see you again. Say the word and I'll drop it. Still, I would love to hang out and swap stories._

_~Max"_

After reading the message over for the fiftieth time, finally she summoned all the confidence she had within her and hit send. Max couldn't believe it, after basically dicking Chloe over five years before, she was finally trying to rebuild the bridge she had so carelessly burned. Her e-mail was about as honest as she could get. There was every chance in the world that she would get a simple 'fuck off' back from her, and that would be that. But maybe, just maybe, there was enough time to heal those wounds.

Even if she refused to admit it to herself, there was a lot riding on this. A lot of things that went unsaid. And she wanted to take this opportunity she'd been given. She might never find this level of courage again.

It took less time than Max was expecting. Somehow she imagined that the message would drop into Chloe's inbox, and she would read it, then leave it there for a week or so. Just to drive home how much the ball was in her court. Instead, the response came hurtling back in less than twelve hours. She might have been terrified to open it if it weren't for that little sliver of preview text. "MAX!1! Holy sh-"

A reply with that much excitement right at the front couldn't be bad could it? Could things really be alright now? Her hand shook ever so slightly as she hovered her mouse over the message and clicked on it.

"_MAX!1! Holy shit I can't believe it! Okay, first things first, super mega huge congratulations because getting into Blackhell is no easy feat. But second and way more importantly YOU'RE COMING BACK TO ARCADIA BAY AND I GET MY FRIEND BACK! Obviously I want to see you, dummy. You better tell me the very second you get into town so you and I can chill like old times. Oh! And you get to meet my girlfriend, you're gonna love her."_

Everything about this message was perfect, right up there until the very end. It wasn't until she saw those words that Max knew, deep down, why she had been doing this. And now that idea was getting stomped down into the dust, then stomped on a few more times just to be sure. Because the one thing that definitely hadn't changed in five years? She loved Chloe, more than she was ever able to admit. And... Chloe had a girlfriend. Any hope Max might have had with ever getting closer to her in a way she truly desired was completely gone.

But even still, she didn't want to let this ruin her friendship. She would stick by her friend this time, no matter how much it hurt.

* * *

"Oh my god babe, you gotta see this stupid meme Max just sent me."

Rachel had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. This had become a new thing with them lately. She wanted to be happy for her girlfriend, really she did. It was the mature thing for her to do. But it was also perfectly natural to be a little bit jealous, right? That was kind of the girlfriend's job. To be... overprotective and possessive, at least kinda? "Yeah? Oh my god that's hilarious."

Chloe scoffed and pulled the phone back. "You didn't even look, did you? Come on, the least you could do is at least to pretend to care."

"I care! Everything you told me about Max sounds awesome, and before too long you guys are going to be hanging out together again, awesomely. It's... awesome." She knew she couldn't really keep the sound of frustration out of her voice, but it was too late now.

Her girlfriend had obviously caught on, judging by the way she sat up and looked over at her more intently. "Woah, the Amber sass really came out there, huh? Damn, you couldn't at least _try_ to pretend that you don't hate her already?"

She could feel her defensiveness rising quickly. "I don't hate her! I don't know her yet, except that you two talk a lot and she amuses you with everything she says..." She started to trail off as she seemed to hear the words she said and caught on to what they meant. Her face fell and she stood up from Chloe's bed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry... I just... It's a lot. You know? You two have years and years of history, and despite five years of silence, you're best buds all over again! Am I supposed to _not_ get jealous?"

"Are you funnin' me, girl?" Chloe sat up more, scoffing again. "Jealous? Of Max? We've been dating for over a year, and that's not nothing. Max is my best friend, but you're my girlfriend!" She stood up and moved over to her, wrapping her arms around Rachel from behind. Ugh, how was she supposed to be jealous and angry when Chloe got all affectionate like this? "Okay, look, I get it, I do. And when she gets into town, I am going to want to hang out with her. But your face is the one I wanna see every time I wake up, okay? I love you..." Her voice dropped, as if she was afraid of anyone else hearing that. It was still pretty adorable just how self-conscious someone so cool could be.

"I love you too..." she said just as softly as she turned around in her arms and kissed her softly on the forehead. "I'm not going anywhere. I just get... anxious."

"Hah, I understand anxiety. And don't you worry. I'm not going anywhere either."

* * *

Chloe felt like a coiled spring, ready to... uncoil and... go... springing off somewhere. She wasn't super great with metaphors. She was in the hall of the girl's dorm, pacing manically and waiting for her best friend to walk through that door. And yeah, maybe things had gotten a little tense there for a moment, but Max didn't need to know about all that. Today was going to be all about her, and about them as friends, and introducing her to Rachel. And it was going to be awesome.

But then she saw Max walk through the door and there was a sinking feeling in her chest. Seeing her on Facebook she was able to separate real life from what she saw on the screen. But now she was walking in the door with two duffels and a guitar slung around her back and her freckles and her sandy hair and god dammit she was so freaking adorable!

_Alright, just play it cool. You have a smoking hot girlfriend and there are cute girls everywhere. This is no different. Except maybe for the years and years of history you two share. And the fact that you know she's way more than just a pretty face probably has something to do with it too. Jesus, shut up already!_

She was suddenly nudged in the ribs by Rachel's elbow and shot back to reality. "Ahh!" Running forward, she wrapped her arms around Max and hugged her tightly. "It's really you! You're really here!"

"And you're really... wow, really leaning into that punk thing! I thought that was just a couple pictures..." She pulled back and gave her the once-over, which was something Chloe didn't expect to enjoy as much as she did.

"Yeah, well, you know. When you find something that works, stick with it." Chloe shrugged and adjusted one of her leather bracelets with a little grin. Something suddenly sparked in her mind and she slapped herself in the forehead. "Oh! Jeez, earth to me. Max! I want you to meet the one, the only, Rachel Amber!" She mimicked the sound of a cheering crowd as she danced aside, making room for her girlfriend and best friend to meet properly.

Rachel closed the distance between them with a roll of her eyes, then offered a hand to Max with a little chuckle. "I apologize for her. She's been super nervous about seeing you again."

Max took her hand and shook it firmly. "Can't say I'm exactly surprised. And... you know, maybe I'm a little nervous myself. Kind of a big deal, right?"

Chloe was still working out her anxiety by dancing around like an idiot. Rachel, presumably tired of her antics, reached over and took her elbow, yanking her closer. "Well, you've also got to deal with moving into school and getting ready for classes and stuff. But I suppose as long as we're being honest, I'm a bit nervous too. My girlfriend's best friend coming around to steal her away from me? It's scary~"

Ooooh, clever. Rachel was pulling out her acting chops. That sounded pretty damn legit. There was no way she could possibly be scared about this! Still, it made for a good segue. "C'mon, we should get this stuff into your room. Ooh, what about Ma and Pa Caulfield? Do I get to see their pretty faces soon?" Without waiting for any kind of invitation, she took one of Max's bags and started carrying it down the hall. "What room did you get anyway?"

"Ahah, they're busy with all of that move-in day stuff. It's gonna be an hour or two. And uhhh..." She pulled out her phone and scrolled a few times. "Room 219."

Rachel snickered softly and motioned across the hall. "You somehow managed to get both the best and worst room around. The good news is you've got Kate Marsh right there; she's an absolute darling. The bad news is you've also got Victoria Chase; she's... a princess who wishes she was queen."

Chloe didn't want to overwhelm her with a bunch of names and social connections. And there was something far more important to take care of. "You said we've got at least an hour, right? You'll have plenty of time to get your room in order later tonight. We've got a little ritual we need help with. You cool to come along on a little field trip?"

* * *

Max watched curiously out the windows of Chloe's beat-up truck, then back over at her companions. This was... an unexpected situation. She figured her first day at Blackwell would be relatively quiet. Get into her room, do a little decorating, say goodbye to her parents, meet the neighbors. Instead, she was going out to some mystery spot with Chloe and Rachel. More specifically, with her best friend who she had a crush on, and her girlfriend, who Max was also developing something of a crush on. You could see from their countless pictures that Rachel was beautiful. But Chloe had neglected to mention that she was charismatic and charming too. Honestly, who could possibly blame her?

"Sooo... are you gonna actually tell me where this little 'field trip' is headed?"

Chloe just smirked mysteriously and continued to watch the road.

She looked toward Rachel instead, hoping that maybe she wasn't as dedicated to this little bit of theirs. "C'mon, something, anything? Just throw me a bone here."

The blonde somehow managed to look even more mysteriously at her.

"Fine. Be weirdos about this..."

It wasn't that much longer before she finally found out what their destination was. It wasn't any more encouraging to see that it was a freaking junkyard. "Is this the part where you reveal you're actually planning on murdering me?"

Rachel was the first to actually crack the facade, and a smile. "Does it really make the situation any less threatening if I say no?"

"Hm, I guess not. But that's just because I've gotten really good at assuming the worst of normal situations."

This time, she broke out in bright laughter. "Sounds like someone else I know. You two really are best friends, aren't you?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark." Chloe parked the truck and hopped out with a surprising amount of grace. "Time to reveal our master plan!"

Their actual destination, as it turned out, was a small little shack toward the middle of the junkyard. Max's initial reaction was one of disappointment, but then she stepped inside and understood why she had been brought here, at least partially. The place had been decorated with all the flair a pair of teenage girls could manage. To the trained eye, it might have looked like more junk. But she knew a secret hideout when she saw one. "We don't have forever, but there's something we had to do." Chloe uncapped a Sharpie and passed it to her, then motioned to a spot on the cinder brick wall. "It's our home away from home away from home. And now it's yours too. Go on, Maximus."

She knelt down and eyed the two previous signatures, then carefully added 'Max was here' in the most Max-ish script she could. She stood back up, brushing the dust off her knees and went to pass the pen back, only to catch Chloe looking at her with a fond smile. Without warning, she grabbed the marker, then threw her arms around her and squeezed her tight. "Now it's official. Welcome back to Arcadia Bay, Max. You're home."


	2. Meltdown!

Max popped her copy of Pirates of the Caribbean in the DVD player with a bright cheer. "Pirate day!"

"Pirate day!" Chloe repeated from her spot on the couch.

As she returned to flop down next to her, she glanced over curiously. "I don't think you ever actually said, why isn't Rachel here?"

She shrugged. "Unlike us, who spent our time practicing the noble art of piracy during our youth, she was... ugh... a ninja."

"Oh god~" Max replied through soft laughter. "Are we talking like... Kurosawa ninja or Naruto ninja?"

She scoffed and pressed play on the remote control. "Please. Kurosawa. I love her, but if she came Naruto running up to me one day, I'd dump her in a heartbeat."

The two of them settled in to enjoy their movie marathon with some popcorn and soda. For a time, everything was hunky dory. It was a perfect day. Max finally felt like maybe she was getting her stupid heart in control. Things at Blackwell were going great. She was making friends. Yes, a perfect day.

So it made sense that something would have to come up to ruin it. "You know, every now and then I remember all those dumb little treasure hunts we would go on. Even if it was just for bottle caps and pine cones and shit. But sometimes we would get clever with it and make a recording or whatever... God, we were such adorable little nerds..." She paused for a moment, the movie doing nothing to fill the silence properly. "But then that makes me think about... you know... that last message you left for me."

Max's heart was beating a mile a minute. She knew this had to come up sooner or later. She just wasn't expecting it to be 'sooner'.

"I just... I don't wanna ruin pirate day or whatever. But... I gotta know what the fuck happened there. Why you went radio silent. All that... stuff." Her voice was starting to crack, which made it approximately a million times harder to get through this.

Reaching for the remote and nearly fumbling it, Max hurried to pause the movie. She didn't want to try and make this conversation happen to the tune of Elizabeth freaking out over undead pirates. There was actually a fairly simple, easy answer to her concerns. The problem was that there was no way in hell she was ever going to admit to it. So now she had to come up with a close approximation of the truth. "Because I suck, obviously. And I was so scared of... of our friendship fading away that I stupidly thought it would be easier if I just... pulled the plug myself."

Chloe was getting visibly upset now, and while Max couldn't blame her, she also didn't want her to get caught up it. "Are you fu-"

Dammit, now her own voice was breaking and she was starting to cry. "It's awful, I know! And trust me, I hated myself more every day because of what I did! A-And... And I was so sure that when I messaged you, you'd just tell me to go to hell."

To her surprise, Chloe actually cracked a smile at that. "Don't get me wrong, I considered it. But then I thought more about your tape and... and what else you said. We're still Max and Chloe. Always. So in the end, it had to work out. Because... that's what friends do." She chuckled and shook her head. "If you ever tell anyone I said that kinda sappy shit, I'll keelhaul you." Her shoulders rose and fell slowly, hardly a shrug but close enough. "I guess maybe I just needed to hear it, ya know?"

"It's okay. I needed to say it. I needed you to know how sorry I am, and how it feels impossible to ever make it up to you..."

She couldn't even think what else to add, but that didn't matter. Chloe threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. It seemed to go on forever, and then just a moment longer. Lingering, in a way that made Max wonder what was going through her friend's head. For everything they were saying, what was still going unspoken? Well, for her part it was obvious. But what about Chloe?

"C'mon, enough with that sappy shit. Back to the movie."

* * *

Rachel knew she wasn't supposed to be upset about something like this. Chloe was her own person, and absolutely free to do whatever she pleased. If she wanted to spend a whole day hanging out with her best friend, that was a completely normal situation. Sometimes friends liked to just putter around for a whole day.

But also, Rachel was an actress, a drama queen. And maybe that paranoid side of her brain said that while she wasn't looking, the two of them would be having copious amounts of sex. She'd seen the way the two looked at each other. You would have to be blind and deaf to miss it. Hell, even then!

Still... a few looks here and there were just that – simple glances. And if she went off on some kind of tirade and interrupted their day, and it turned out she was just an idiot, then yeah. That would be a bad look.

"What's with the rain cloud, sweetie?"

She was shaken out of her thoughts as she ascended the steps to the house by her mother who was taking one of her usual smoke breaks. Slowly, she sidled up next to her and leaned up against the banister, sighing. "What rain cloud?"

"You're looking glum as hell, baby. Are things okay at school?" She stubbed out the last of her cigarette and turned to look at her more intently now.

Dammit, why did she have to be so expressive? "No, school's fine. It's uh... It's nothing."

"Mmm, that don't look like nothing. For an actress, you can be a pretty bad liar." She leaned over and bumped shoulders with her. "You don't have to talk it out with your dear old mom. But it probably couldn't hurt."

A long sigh escaped her throat as she contemplated how much to say. Sera had always been pretty dependable when it came to listening, and even the occasional bit of advice. So why the hell not? "It's Chloe's friend Max. She's... sweet, and funny, and cute, and talented. And she scares the absolute crap out of me. They have so much history, and it's obvious they care about each other like crazy..."

Sera nodded slowly. "And it's safe to say you really don't want this to turn into a messy love triangle."

"Yeah, I'd prefer to avoid that..."

Things were quiet for a moment, as the two of them stared idly at the horizon beyond. At some point her mother seemed to find a train of thought as she began vocalizing it. "I know it's not nearly the same, but I remember what it felt like after your dad and I split. And I knew... eventually he would find someone else to marry. Which I understood, even if it tore me up inside. He did find someone by the way, and she did one hell of a job. So when I came here with my heart laid bare, I was nervous as shit." She laughed softly and gave her another friendly shoulder bump. "Rose still loved him, still does I suppose. And she also loves me. And there was always a part of me that still loved James."

Rachel cleared her throat softly. "Not... sure I follow yet."

"I guess I'm kinda just thinking out loud. Yes, you could just let this become a... Damn, what was that series you hated back in the day? Team Edward versus Team Jacob?"

"Hah, Twilight. Yeah, that was... Ugh, don't get me started."

"That's the one. Anyway, it's dumb. That entire trope. It's not all that realistic. Maybe Chloe does have feelings for Max, and vice versa. Maybe you'll realize that finding her 'sweet and funny and cute and talented' is a good enough reason to become better friends. Or... maybe more. But life is short and weird and you might as well focus on enjoying it, yeah?"

Still staring at the distant horizon, Rachel tried her best to correlate everything her mother had just said. There was... something in there. Something that sounded nice. Something that was far more attractive than spending all her time being jealous and paranoid. There was nothing about Max that was inherently threatening, other than her ability to take Chloe away from her. But her girlfriend had a massive heart – even if she didn't like to admit it. Those few things she chose to let close, she loved passionately. Why couldn't there be room for one more? "Yeah."

"Good. Now come inside. It's my night to cook and your mom deserves something delicious." She clapped her gently on the back and turned to open up the front door.

* * *

It was strange, the difference between spending the night at her place, and spending the night at Rachel's. At Chloe's place, she always felt like she had to sneak around. Ever since David got that job at Blackwell, he'd turned into quite the paranoid shitheel. But here... everything was so easy. They never had to sneak around Rose and Sera. The women understood that their daughter was 'active' and just embarrassingly reminded her about being 'safe'. Chloe was free to come and go as she pleased. Hell, she was welcome here. And that went a long way to making life easier.

At the moment, the two of them were laying there together, Chloe on her back, Rachel curled against her. Her hand was idly rubbing against her stomach under her shirt. It was the most soothing thing on the planet. And after the Moment she had shared with Max, she needed some soothing.

Which made it all the more frustrating when Rachel suddenly looked up into her eyes, her face a little tight. "Babe, can we... talk about something?"

Oof. Well, saying 'not now' would just ruin the whole mood. But she looked so damn serious. And what good would delaying the inevitable do? When this girl got something in her head, she didn't really let it go. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure."

She sighed softly, eyes flickering for a moment. "I just need to ask this, and I promise that no matter what, I'm still right here with you."

"O-Okay. Hit me with it."

"...do you have feelings for Max? Like... non-friend feelings?" Rachel was looking directly at her now, those gorgeous eyes of her searching intently for something.

Chloe didn't do herself any favors by immediately turning bright red, glancing away from her. The words were there, right there. _Of course I do. Jesus, just look at her. She's amazing and she has no clue. It's a perfect combination. Just like you, but completely different. And I hate that I love her like this. Because it must hurt like hell._ Granted, that's not what she said. But it's what she thought, and it was probably super obvious on her dumb, slack-jawed face. "I... I think so? B-But she's still got a lot of work left to make up for what she did! And you can bet your sweet ass that I would never, ever let you go. So please please please don't hate me for this? I-I can't help it, and I'd be an idiot to ever act on that stuff!"

"Hey~" To her immense shock, Rachel just smiled and gently cupped her face in her hand. "I promised I wouldn't get upset, right? I just had to be certain, so I knew where... everything is. I talked with mom earlier today and she... she said some stuff that kinda made a lot of sense. It made me think that... that maybe... I mean, I don't want to be some shitty girlfriend who makes an ultimatum about you never seeing her again. And I totally get why you'd have some pretty mixed up feelings about her! So the only thing I care about right now is that you know how much I love you. So much that..." She began to laugh, only slightly delirious. "That... if you two do grow closer, I'll stand by you. No matter what."

As touched as she was, there was something far more pressing she needed to clarify first. "Woah, wait wait... This is just a dumb crush. What makes you think anything will come of it?"

Her head cocked slightly, an eyebrow quirking dramatically. "...because she pretty obviously feels the same way. Haven't you noticed?"

"No! Baby, you know what a dumbass I am when it comes to this stuff! Remember how long it took me to catch on to what _you_ were feeling? And you were actively flirting with me!"

At this point, the mood broke and both of them were laughing brightly at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. They curled in against one another, giggling and eventually devolving into some passionate, hormonal make-outs. When they finally came to their senses, Chloe pulled back slowly and looked into her eyes. Rachel looked right back, seeming much more confident now. "Seriously, what the hell even is my life?"

"_Our_ life," she swiftly corrected her.


	3. Sandy Face!

Max anxiously fiddled with her camera and stared around her at the junkyard. She couldn't really put together what had brought her here. Obviously all the pieces were right there. Chloe wanted her best friend and her girlfriend to be better friends. But somehow Max had assumed that she would get drawn into working on a play or something. Not coming out here to take pictures of the pretty blonde. Perhaps if Chloe had realized that Max had some complicated feelings in this situation, she might not have come up with the idea.

"So uh... What's the deal here exactly?" she called over to the shack where Rachel was getting changed.

After a bit of rustling, the other girl finally responded. "I had a really tough time coming up with a decent present for Chloe's last birthday. But now that I know an ace photographer, I had this brilliant idea, and then made her think this was her idea. She knows I'm modeling for you. But she has no clue about my secret brilliance!" She gave a mock maniacal laugh and strutted out looking absolutely gorgeous – jacket, pompadour, bracelets, cutoffs, torn stockings. It was one hell of a style, and for a moment she was speechless. "The first time we actually met, at this sick Firewalk concert, I was totally decked out. She uh... she didn't look half bad herself, obviously."

Max finally found her voice and laughed awkwardly. "Anything like now?"

At that, Rachel chuckled and shook her head. "Nah. See I was just an actress wearing a costume, ya know? But Chloe was like... a fledgeling punk, only just starting to find herself. Hair wasn't even dyed yet. Her hoodie had some cool studs on it and she had some bracelets and shit. But you could see what she was going for. Honestly, it felt way more legit punk than my attempts. But... apparently she loved it, so I figured I could get some prints for her next birthday."

It was strange to imagine the mid-point between the girl that Max had grown up with and the person she was now. Something like an Animorphs book played out in her mind as one shifted into the other. "Hmm, well, American Rust certainly feels like the right place to get some grunge in the background. I think we should start over there with what's left of that car?"

Rachel just shrugged casually and started strolling over toward it. "Hey, you're the artist, I'm just the pretty face. What we shoot is up to you."

_Oof, blush city._ It took a lot of willpower to have someone like her essentially say 'do with me what you will'. _No. Bad Max. Terrible Max. This is a taken woman. Taken by another woman whom you also want to do things with. Jesus, you're in deep, girl._ "Uhh, alright then, I guess ummm... Well, why don't you lay down on the hood of it, with your head kinda resting against the windshield. And then... Oh! Kinda point toward the sky like your finger is a gun, ya know? With the other one bracing it and everything?"

She knew full well her directions weren't super great. And yet Rachel followed them perfectly and then improved on them. She laid out along the hood of the car, one knee slightly cocked. She aimed her 'gun' directly at the clouds, closing one eye for effect. "See ya, space cowboy..."

Max would have melted right then and there if she could. Luckily, she did finally have the presence of mind to actually use the fucking camera in her hands and get some snapshots. Naturally they came out perfect, and if she were pressed, she would say it was definitely 90% because Rachel was so damn perfect herself.

This process continued for a while. Max would suggest somewhere for Rachel to pose, and then she would somehow do it even better, and then the pictures would come out amazingly. Before long, she had a million pictures to sort through, and she had no clue where to even begin picking them out.

She had been hoping that spending a normal day with Rachel would make her seem less intimidating or less attractive. Arguably, it was the exact opposite now. Max just liked her all the more.

* * *

Rachel paced her room anxiously, nervously toying with a loose thread on her shirt. Chloe was stretched out on her bed watching anxiously. "So... you said there was something you wanted to talk about?"

She kept right on pacing, hoping that somehow if she put in enough footsteps, the answer to everything might just suddenly crop up. But obviously that wasn't really happening. Instead, she had to just... find the words. "So okay. So... So you had a good idea, getting me and Max to hang out. She's cool, and she really does know what she's doing with a camera. But um... I think I also... understand now? Like _really_ understand."

She knew that wasn't super helpful, and the look on Chloe's face only drove that home. "You understand... what?"

"I get... I get why you... would be so into her..." She finally managed to find her breath, grateful to just have the words out there in the open. Even if it made Chloe hate her. "She's cute and bashful, but when she's in her element she is pretty amazing." Rachel tugged a little more at the stray thread.

She waited patiently for the hammer to drop, but instead, Chloe actually began to chuckle softly. "Yeah, that's her alright. Adorable and badass, but too humble to own up to it. Can't necessarily say I saw this coming, but I'm also not, y'know, exactly shocked. Figured if anything, it would take longer."

Rachel whirled around, expecting to see that shit-eating grin on her face whenever she got really proud of her silly jokes. But she was dead serious at the moment. "You're kidding..."

"Nah. Or I guess it was like uh... like wishful thinking? Pft, like maybe if you started to feel the same way, then maybe I wouldn't be so guilty."

She felt her own lips curl into a smile as well. After some thought, she padded her way over to the bed and stretched out next to Chloe, wrapping her arms around her. "Well then, lucky for you. Looks like you're off the hook."

"I thought I was already off the hook," she fired back. "Or were you just lying before?"

"I'm... just giving you a hard time because I'm feeling self-conscious and weird. Thought you would know me well enough by now to catch on to that." Rachel giggled and kissed her firmly on the lips. "I think the real question is... what do we do now?"

Chloe looked a bit bashful again, looking up and past Rachel's shoulder. "Well, as long as I'm being painfully honest, I had some thoughts about that." She swallowed, finally looking back into her eyes. "I mean, if you're interested."

That brought a wide smile to her lips. "I'm listening..."

* * *

Chloe could feel her nerves creeping. This had seemed like a beautiful, romantic idea when it was just her and Rachel admitting strange feelings to one another. But the time had come and now it seemed like an insane proposition. What if they were both wrong about Max? What if the girl completely freaked out, ran away, and pushed them both out of their lives?

But Rachel looked ready to go and there was basically no backing out now. Max had come over to Chloe's place under the false assumption that her girlfriend had never seen Blade Runner before and this was a slight against humanity. Which was ridiculous because obviously Rachel had seen it, because it's fucking Blade Runner and _come on_. The girl was perfect.

The first stage was to convince her friend to sit between them instead of off to one side. Granted, Chloe had counted on Max putting up more of a fuss about this, and forgot that the girl wasn't always the most argumentative. So, at least that step was completed relatively easily. Even if she didn't question it much, you could see that she was looking a little bit confused and maybe even uncomfortable.

For a while, things stayed in that strange but rather pleasant atmosphere. At some point, Rachel gave her the sign with a serious, conspiratorial nod. _Well, here goes nothing. Fingers crossed and all that._ "Max, is everything cool?"

"Huh? Wh- Yeah. I love this movie, you know that." God, she had absolutely no fucking poker face. If Chloe was uncertain before, she was getting over that now.

It was tough to press a button with much drama, but Chloe gave it her all. She reached out and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie. Then, she casually slipped an arm around her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I'm not asking about the movie, ya dork. You've been acting kinda weird for a while now. I just wanna make sure you're doing okay."

She cleared her throat anxiously, glancing toward the frozen screen. "Yeah, I'm doing fine. Classes are awesome and I get to hang out with you guys all the time and... it's awesome."

Rachel offered a pretty, sympathetic pout as she turned her attention on Max as well. "Sweetie, you gotta try a little harder if you're gonna hide something from me. Ask Chloe. I can read a person like a book."

"Hah, she's not kidding. Rachel can be scary good." This was, admittedly, kind of fun. If they were on the wrong mark, it might have felt cruel. But her confidence was building. She started to gently rub Max's shoulder, smiling warmly at her. "Besides, we're best buds, and you gotta know you can always tell me anything!"

Max stared off into space, silent and anxious. Finally she swallowed and glanced back and forth between them. "I don't want you guys to think I'm a weirdo. Or, like, hate me. And you'll definitely see me differently if I say this."

Oof, okay, playtime was over. Max sounded like she was legitimately having some trouble here. And at the end of the day, she was still Chloe's best friend. She meant what she said, and no matter what Max told her, she would keep right on being her best friend. Rubbing her shoulder, she gave her best winning smile. "Try us."

For a moment, it looked like maybe she really would go running for the door. But finally she exhaled and seemed to find her words. "You guys have been so great about not making me feel like a third wheel. But um... sometimes I almost kind of wish I could be... more than that?" As Max continued, Chloe caught Rachel's eye, unable to help the smirk that came to her lips. Holy shit, this was actually happening. "And I know that's completely nutso, and all it would do is complicate things. I swear, I would never, ever want to come between the two of you like that! But it was driving me crazy not saying anything..."

"Aw Max..." She could see Rachel's brow furrow, as if she was reading her mind in that moment, begging her to choose her words carefully. Chloe did not. If anything, she did the opposite, setting her free hand lightly on Max's knee and massaging with her thumb. "Did you ever consider that maybe we _wanted_ you to... come between us?"

Her girlfriend quickly lashed out and slapped her on the arm, then just as swiftly turned back to her sweet side, lightly touching Max's cheek with her palm. It was a much more powerful turn-on than she was expecting. "I'm so sorry for her, but I suppose you're used to it by now."

"I couldn't help myself!"

"You could have," she fired back with a roll of her eyes. Her attention went back to Max, her thumb brushing over her cheek. "Anyway, it's less crazy than you might think. I've been doing some Googling after a kinda weird conversation with my mom. And there are relationships that include more than two people. It's not super common, but it happens. And lucky for you... you're pretty damn cute."

Chloe could see her going in for a kiss, and possessively whirled Max around, capturing her lips and kissing her fiercely. "_My_ best friend, I get to kiss her first."

She was dazed, and didn't get a lot of time to recover before Rachel captured her in another kiss. When it was over, she giggled and lightly grazed her cheek again. "You see? Easy peazy. If you're open to the idea, then so are we. And we've already begun." Goddamn, she could seduce anyone, couldn't she?

Surprisingly, Max started to get a little misty-eyed and rubbed at her face with her palms. "Oh my god, you guuuyyyssss..."

Both of them went in for a tight hug, cooing in tandem. Rachel glanced over at her with a broad smile. "How in the world did you not fall in love with this ball of preciousness right away?"

"I did! And if someone had done a better job of keeping in touch with me, this whole process would have been a lot easier..." she muttered softly.

That seemed to snap Max out of whatever state she was in, her head whipping to the side, looking at her in disbelief. "You what? All this time?"

Sighing, Chloe got up from the couch, taking each girl by the hand and tugging them toward the stairs. "Come on, let's go snuggle in my bed, and I can regale you with the story of the little dirt-eating dummy who fell in love with the girl with the Hello Kitty polaroid."


End file.
